JOHN Murray and his son John jnr subjected the latter's estranged wife Michelle - who has since fled the country - her sister Stacey and their mum Catherine to sickening attacks.

Badger baiting father and son, John Murray Snr and John Murray Jnr arriving at Hamilton Sheriff Court

TWO sadistic badger baiters have admitted beating up a mum and her two daughters.

John “Mint” Murray and his son John jnr subjected the women to sickening attacks.

One of the victims is so terrified of the pair that she has fled the country.

A source said: “The Murrays are vicious and capable of terrible violence.”

The twisted pair who got their kicks from getting their hunting dogs to rip cats, foxes and badgers to pieces, appeared in court last week on assault charges.

They beat up Murray jnr’s estranged wife Michelle, her sister Stacey and their mum Catherine Ralton.

Murray jnr, 33, tried to strangle Michelle and battered Stacey on the head with a metal pole.

Mint, 56, punched Catherine in the face, breaking her nose.

Catherine told a friend: “I really didn’t think my family were going to come out of there alive.”

The source added: “Michelle has left the country. She knows there is no line the Murrays
won’t cross.

“They aren’t just cruel to animals, they are cruel to people. People on their estate are terrified of them.

“Michelle and her family want them locked up. They are too dangerous to be on the streets.”

Daily Record

Michelle Ralton

At Hamilton Sheriff Court on Thursday, the Murrays each admitted two counts of assault in March last year.

The night of violence happened at Earn Gardens in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, where father and son live next door to each other.

Murray jnr and Michelle married in 2012 and have two young children.

On the evening of the assault, Michelle had come to pick the kids up from their dad. When she arrived, Murray jnr had been drinking and tried to persuade her to come into the house and let the kids stay for another night.

When she refused, he grabbed her by the hair and slammed her against her car, gripping her throat so tightly that she started to lose consciousness.

She managed to break away but Murray jnr seized her by the hair and ground her face against the roughcast wall of the house.

As Michelle pulled away, he tore a large clump of her hair off.

She got in her car and reversed away.

As Michelle fled, her mum and sisters arrived at Earn Gardens, having been alerted by a
neighbour.

When Catherine knocked on Murray jnr’s door, he burst out of his dad’s house clutching a Buckfast bottle and screaming: “You are all f*****g getting it.”

Murray jnr punched Catherine in the face and she fell.

He then turned to her daughter Kayleigh, 22, and as Catherine tried to pull him away, Mint ran up behind her, kicked her in the back and pulled her hair so hard it ripped the skin from behind her ear.

As she spun round, Mint punched her in the face and she heard the crack of her nose breaking.

Kayleigh and Catherine managed to get away in their cars.

Michelle, in the meantime, went back to collect her children, just as her sister Stacey, 25, pulled up.

Murray jnr battered Stacey’s head repeatedly with a metal pole.

When she fell, he slammed her head off the concrete driveway.

As Michelle tried to pull him off her sister, Mint kicked Stacey in the head. Michelle begged them to stop for the sake of her children who were screaming.

Eventually, they let Michelle and Stacey take the kids and leave.

The Murrays, who will be sentenced for the attacks at a later date, are notorious on the estate.

John Murray Jnr with his dad John Murray Snr

It was in the house now occupied by Mint that his 16-year-old brother Hugh stabbed Detective Sergeant Ross Hunt, 58, to death in 1983.

Last March, Mint and Murray jnr were convicted of badger baiting.

They dug up setts and staged barbaric battles between animals in Earn Gardens.

Their trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court heard they liked to trap cats and foxes in a wheelie bin with their dogs, which would fly into a killing frenzy.

In April, the pair were banned from keeping dogs for 10 years and each ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work.